Police Violence is Flooding Our Screens. What’s the Impact?

The Times’s assistant TV editor, Aisha Harris, discusses how representations of police brutality in media have changed. She says shows like “Insecure” and “Queen Sugar” sensitively deal with this issue by focusing on the interactions’ emotional toll, not the violence itself.

“When he comes up, keep your hands on the wheel.” We’ve seen police violence against black people depicted in films and TV shows for years now. Everything from “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song,” a film from the 1970s directed by Melvin Van Peebles. You have “Do the Right Thing,” Spike Lee’s very important film of the 1980s. And even a sitcom like “Family Matters” dealt with the subject of police harassment. “Is that why you made him get out of his car? Is that why you forced him to lie down? Is that why you cuffed him?” I think the difference that we’re seeing now is that because of the media attention and the fact that now we’re able to actually oftentimes see these shootings and killings in our social media feeds as they’re happening, as a filmmaker, you have to consider that the viewer might be coming with that baggage especially if your targeted audience is people of color. When a show or movie does not take care of its audience or doesn’t consider what the audience may feel it becomes a huge problem. And it could border on exploitative or even sort of wallowing in the suffering that is happening on screen. An example of a work that does not carefully consider the audience’s reactions to seeing these images on screen is “Detroit.” The focus on the suffering and the way in which the camera really zooms in on that, even though it’s effective, can also just feel very uncomfortable and icky to experience. I think for those artists who are wrestling with the subject, especially those who are black, it’s important for them not to dwell on the suffering or the horrific moments. It’s also very important to focus on the recovery, the aftermath, the emotional toll that comes along after the incident has happened. And I think one of the better examples of this has been “Queen Sugar.” In Season 2 of “Queen Sugar,” one of the characters, Micah, who’s in high school, gets pulled over while riding in a very expensive new birthday present from his parents. “Let me see your registration — now.” It’s not until later in the season when we learn what happened to Micah. And we don’t have to see it to know how harrowing it is for him, and that’s what makes it really powerful. “He takes out his gun, pushes me down and he puts the gun in my mouth. And he pulled the trigger, Dad.” Another trend that’s been very interesting to see among film and TV shows has been narratives that explore the idea of police violence, but not in a very explicit way. The interaction doesn’t lead to any grand moment or any shocking moment. Instead, it’s just a very awkward moment and a couple of shows that have done that well have been “Insecure” and “The Chi.” With “Insecure” there’s a scene in Season 2 — “You in a rush?” “Uh, no, sir.” “You must be, making your illegal U-turn.” Watching Lawrence’s body language and the way in which he uncomfortably chats with a police officer is part of what makes it so visceral and feel so grounded and real. “Uh, here you go.” And in “The Chi” there is a similar instance where Brandon is stopped by two police officers, one black and one white. “What are you stopping me for?” “Get over the car.” The threat of police violence is something that probably even more people can relate to than the actual actions of them. So when you think of these projects that are selective with what they show, I think we’re looking at works that are really interrogating and going deep into the way in which these experiences can affect us on both an emotional level and a psychological level. “When an officer tells you to stop, you stop.” “Yes, sir.”

Culture

Police Violence is Flooding Our Screens. What’s the Impact?

The Times’s assistant TV editor, Aisha Harris, discusses how representations of police brutality in media have changed. She says shows like “Insecure” and “Queen Sugar” sensitively deal with this issue by focusing on the interactions’ emotional toll, not the violence itself.